Heart op toddler set for Disney

A DROMORE toddler who has had to undergo major heart surgery in her two short years of life is now looking forward to the “trip of a lifetime” thanks to former US Open champion Graeme McDowell.

Little Bronagh Gibson will travel to Disney World in Florida in March with her mum Donna Flynn, dad Wayne and four-year-old brother Ethan as part of the golfer’s charity foundation for sick children.

Just three days after her birth in September 2009 baby Bronagh was rushed to Dublin for emergency surgery to treat a heart defect which hadn’t been detected until then. The newborn was transferred from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast because Northern Ireland’s sole paediatric surgeon was on holiday.

And now the toddler is recovering well from major heart surgery in November last year, when she again travelled to Our Lady’s Hospital in Dublin to have a plug inserted into the hole in her heart.

Bronagh, who made it home just in time for Christmas, is now back on her feet and looking forward to the Disney trip courtesy of former McDowell’s G-Mac Foundation. Donna said she was delighted to get a “happy shock” when a nurse informed her of the chance to be one of eight families from across Ireland to travel to Disneyworld as part of the golfer’s charitable foundation.